Ball winding machine



31, 1936. H z COBB 2,035,739

BALL WINDING MACHINE Filed April 10, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I 1E A I I,

'4INVENTOR A'ITORN Y 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 10, 1934 II'LI-IIIII I HHHH" ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 31, 1936 UNITED STATES BALL WINDING MACHINE Henry z. Cobb, Providence, 1;. 1., assignor, {by mesne assignments, to United States Rubber Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application April 10, 1934, Serial No. 719,861

8Claims.

My invention relates to ball winding machines, and more particularly to machines for winding golf balls with relatively wide tape.

In ball winding machines of the type shown in the Worthington Patent 740,348 dimculty is encountered if an attempt be made to wind wide tape, that is tape of a width of the order of half an inch or more. Such tape has a tendency to follow the curvature of the ball toward the side thereof and ultimately escape laterally of the ball rather than conform to the previously wound portion of the ball. With increasing widths of tape the tendency becomes more and more pronounced.

In order to avoid such misalignment or crawling of the tape as it is applied to the ball, I provide a pressure wheel which extends between the winding discs and continuously engages the periphery of the ball during its movement between the winding discs. The tape being applied to the ball is passed around the pressure wheel so that the tape is always delivered centrally and tangentially of the ball regardless of the position of the ball within the winding discs. By insuring that the tape is applied centrally of the ball the tendency of the tape to crowd or crawl to the side of the ball is eliminated and a satisfactorily wound ball using relatively wide tapes is obtained.

The pressure wheel is made relatively narrow to fit between the faces of the discs when a ball core is initially inserted therebetween. It is also made of sufficient diameter so that it can ride up and down in-the space between the faces of the winding discs without interference between its support and the edges of the disc.

By reason of the up and down movement of the core and winding between the winding discs there is an irregular pull on the tape. This irregular pull is sufiiciently severe to cause overrunning of a tape roll and the occasional snapping of tape unless means are provided for tensioning the tape as it is fed. For tensioning the tape it is fed around at least a semi-circumference of the pressure wheel and is led between pinch rolls one of which is provided with a brake and a rubberized gripping surface to prevent slippage of the tape. Means are provided for properly centering the tape relative to the pinch rolls.

The winding discs are driven through differential gearing from a motor. Means are provided for controlling the amount of tape wound upon a ball by stopping the motor at the end of a predetermined separation of the winding discs.

(Cl. 24H) The accompanying drawings illustrate a present preferred embodiment of the invention, in which Fig. 1 is a front elevational view, partly in section, of the winding machine;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view, partially in elevation and partially in section, showing the winding discs and their yieldable mountings;

Fig. 3 is a view of a wound ball, before the application of the cover, the core being shown in dotted circular outline and the convolutions of the tape being shown in full lines; I

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view of the machine along a section line IV-IV of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a plan view, partially in elevation and partially in section, of the machine bed plate and parts located therebeneath and taken substantially along the section line VV of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a detail view of a portion of the supporting mechanism for the pressure wheel.

Referring to the drawings the ball winding machine comprises oppositely disposed winding discs 2 and 3 which are provided with complementary grooves 4 in which a ball core is placed for being wound with tape. The discs 2 and 3 are illustrated in Fig. 2 as comprising hard rubber wear faces 6 in which the grooves 4 are cut. The wear surfaces are attached to the discs proper by suitable securing means such as set screws I. The rubber composition in the faces 6 may be varied considerably, but I prefer a composition which, when vulcanized, is sufiiciently hard to withstand lateral pressure to maintain the shapes of the grooves 4 but still of sufiicient resiliency to be slightly yielding for equalizing wear in the grooves.

The disc 2 is mounted on a shaft 8 resting in bearings 9 von a bedplate Ill. The shaft 8 is longitudinally movable in the bearings 9 by means of a collar ll pinned thereto. The collar ll cooperates with a yoke I! for shifting the shaft 8 longitudinally. A driving gear I is secured atthe end of the shaft by a clamping nut I5. The disc 3 is likewise supported by a shaft I6 in bearings 9. The shaft I6 is provided with a similar collar II and yoke l2 and a driving gear II.

The gears I l and II are connected through intermediate gears iii-l9, and 202i, respectively, with a drive shaft 22 carried in bearings 24 suspended from the bedplate Ill. The intermediate gears l8 and 20 are carried on stub shafts 25 riveted or otherwise secured to adjustable side plates 26 mounted on the ends of the bedplate III.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the ends of each of the plates 26 are slotted to receive clamping bolts 21 so that the plates may be removed or adjusted if it is desired to change the gears |8 and/or 28. Preferably, the gear trains |4-|8--|9 and |1282| are different so that the discs 2 and 3 revolve at different speeds to give the required rolling motion to a ball core disposed in the grooves 4.

The shaft 22 is driven from a motor 28 through a gear train 29-38, the gear 38 being keyed to the shaft 22. I

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the discs 2 and 3 are normally urged toward each other by a weight 3| which is connected by a link 32 to one end of a lever 34. The lever 34 is pivotally mounted at 35 in an arm 36 which is suspended from the bedplate ID by a bracket 31. The lever 34 is pivotally connected at 38 to a rod 39 extending upwardly through the bracket 31 and having longitudinal movement therein. The bracket 31 is provided with a cutaway portion 48 in which a collar 4| is disposed about and secured to the rod 39. Yoke arms 42 and 44 cooperate with the collar 4| and are attached to stub shafts 45 and 46, respectively. The shafts 45 and 46 are supported by brackets 41 and 48, respectively extending downwardly from the bedplate |8. The yokes |2 cooperating with the collars II are attached to the shafts 45 and 46 so that as the weight 3| tends to move downwardly under the influence of the force of gravity, the rod ;39 is pulled downwardly to rotate the shafts 45 and 46 to move the shafts 8 and I6 longitudinally to bring the discs 2 and 3 toward each other. As the weight 3| is always present, a uniform yielding pressure is exerted by the discs on a ball being wound therebetween.

For opposing the weight 3| and for separating the discs 2 and 3, a link 49 depends from the end of the lever 34 opposite link 32 and is connected to a foot pedal, not shown. By depressing the link 49 the lever 34 is turned in a clockwise direction to raise the rod 39 and thereby separate the discs 2 and 3.

As wide tape of the order of one-half inch in width tends to slip or crawl off the sides of a ball being wound in the machine of the Worthington Patent 740,348, I have found that proper winding of wide tape can be had by placing a pressure wheel 58 in the space between the faces of the discs 2 and 3 so as to be in continuous engagement with a ball being wound therebetween. The surface 52 of the wheel 58 is preferably curved to conform to the shape of the ball. A tape 54 is led around the wheel 58 in substantially a semi-circumference so that the tape is discharged centrally and tangentially of the ball 5| regardless of the position of the ball in the grooves 4 between the discs 2 and 3. In order to permit the wheel 58 to follow the ball it must be at least as narrow as the minimum separation of the discs at the initiation of a winding operation. Stated in another way, the thickness of the wheel 58 must not exceed the spacing of the faces of the discs 2 and 3 when a core, shown by the dotted circular 55, Fig. 3, is initially placed between the discs 2 and 3. The wheel 58 must also be of such a diameter that it can ride from the uppermost position of the. ball between the discs, 'as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, to the lowermost position,

. as shown in Fig. 2. Accordingly, the radius of the wheel should be made sufficiently great so that the wheel hub 56 and the supporting shaft 51 are always above the outer edges of the discs 2 and 8.

The shaft 51 is supported by an arm'58 fulcrumed at 69 to a bracket 68 bolted or otherwise secured to the bedplate l8. A spring 6| is attached between a bracket 62 secured by bolts 64 to the bedplate I8, and an opening 65 in the arm 58. Accordingly, the wheel 58 is held in engagement with the ball 5| by a uniform pressure regardless of the position of the ball in the grooves 4 between the discs 2 and 8.

'Referringparticularly to Fig. 6, the arm 58 extends through a slot 66 in a guide 61. For holding the wheel 58 in inoperative position, a latch 68 is pivoted at 69 to the guide 61. The latch is normally held in a position to project into the slot 66 by a spring 18 secured between the guide 61 and a pin 1| on the latch. Stop pins.12 and 14 limit the inward and outward movement. Accordingly, the wheel 58 is raised into inoperative position by raising the arm above the latch 68. To restore the wheel 58 to operative position'the latch 68 is withdrawn from the slot 65 and the arm is permitted to drop.

To insure that the winding operation will cease when the ball is sufficiently wound, as determined by the separation of the discs 2 and 3, a switch shown in Fig. 4 is interposed in the circuit of the motor 28. The switch 15 comprises a housing 16 for a stationary contact member 11 and a movable contact member 18.

The contact member 18 is carried by and insulated from an arm 19 pivoted to a bracket 88 mounted on the bedplate |8. A spring 8| normally tends to keep the contact member 18 in engagement with the contact member 11.

A screw 82 is carried on the end of the arm 19 and is in alignment with a head 84 on a rod 85 projecting upwardly through a sleeve 86 mounted in the bedplate l8. As shown in Fig. 2 the rod 85 is attached to the lever 34 by a pin 81 so that as the lever is raised during the separation of the discs 2 and 3, the head 84 approaches the screw 82. When the head 84 engages the screw 82, continued upward movement of the head 84 breaks the circuit between the contact members 16 and 11 thereby interrupting the circuit of the motor 28. When the, head 84 is again lowered the circuit of the switch 16 is again completed.

Owing to the variations in the position of the bah 5| in the grooves 4 there is a variation in the tension on the tape 54. In order to properly tension the tape it is passed around a semi-circumference of the wheel 58 and around a por-.

tion of the surface of a tensioning wheel 88 which, preferably, is provided with a rubber gripping surface 89 and between the tensioning wheel 88 and a pinch roller 98 which may also be provided with a rubber gripping surface 9|. The tape is supplied from a spool 92 and passes over a roller 94 and under a roller 95 from which it is led to the pinch roller 94. The roller 95 is adjustably mounted by a screw 96 so that it may be centered relative to the pinch roller 98 and the wheel 88. The wheel 88 is pivotally supported by straps 81 on a shaft 98 so that it bears against the tape by gravity. A brake 99 passes around a brake drum I88 on the wheel 88. A spring |8| tensions the brake 99.

In operating the machine the operator takes a ball core of any suitable material, many of which are used in the manufacture of golf balls, or forms a core by rolling a little tape into a bunch. If the core is used a few wraps of tape are made around the core. The pressure wheel 58 is .then

in its elevated position. The operator presses the pedal to separate the discs Zand 3 and inserts the core. The wheel 50 is then lowered and the pedal released to complete the circuit of the motor through the switch 15. The motor starts to spin and the discs 2 and 3 rotate to give the required winding motion to the ball 5|. At the end of the proper time the discs are separated suficiently to open the switch and stop the motor. The operator then breaks the tape 54 and binds the end of the tape, preferably, by inserting the loose end undensome of the previous convolutions of the tape and the ball is removed preparatory to a covering or other finishing operation. The cycle of operations is repeated.

While I have shown and described a present preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that it may be otherwise embodied within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In a ball winding machine, a pair of rotatable discs having cooperating grooved faces between which a ball is wound, and a thin pressure wheel mounted in the plane of the opening between the discs to float in engagement with a ball between said discs during the winding operation and as the ball assumes difierent positions relative to said discs.

2. In a ball winding machine, a pair of rotatable discs having cooperating grooved faces between which a ball is wound, a pressure wheel mounted with its, axis parallel to the axis of the discs to float in engagement with a ball between said discs during the winding operation and as the ball assumes different positions relative to said discs, and means for applying uniform pressure to said wheel.

3. In a ball winding machine, a pair of rotatable discs having cooperating grooved faces between which a ball is wound, a pressure wheel mounted to float between the discs and across the axis thereof while in engagement with a ball between said discs during the winding operation and. as the ball assumes diflerent positions relative to the axis of said discs, a supporting arm for said wheel, and means for applying a constant pressure to said wheel.

4. In a ball winding machine, a pair of rotatable discs having cooperating grooved faces between which a ball is wound, a pressure wheel mounted to float in engagement with a ball between said discs during the winding operation and as the ball assumes different positions relative to said discs, a supporting arm for said wheel, means for applying a constant pressure to said wheel, and a latching means for holding the wheel in inoperative position.

5. In a ball winding machine, a pair of cooperating winding discs between which a ball is wound, a pressure wheel extending between the faces of said discs for engaging a ball during the winding operation and feeding tape thereto under uniform conditions of pressure and direction, and means for supplying tape to said wheel under uniform tension.

6. In a ball winding machine, a pair of cooperating winding discs between which a. ball is wound, a pressure wheel extending between the faces of said discs for engaging a ball during the winding operation and feeding tape thereto under uniform conditions of pressure and direction, and means for supplying tape to said wheel under uniform tension, said supplying means comprising a tension wheel about which the tape passes on its way to the pressure wheel.

7. In a ball winding machine, a pair of rotating winding discs, yieldable mountings therefor, and a thin wheel extending between said discs and engaging a ball wound therebetween, said wheel being of suflicient diameter so that the wheel can follow the ball in its movement between said discs without interference from supporting means for the wheel and the discs.

8. In a ball winding machine, a pair of yieldably mounted rotatable winding discs, and a pressure wheel adapted to bear on a ball being wound between said discs, the periphery of said wheel being curved to conform to the shape of the ball as it is wound.

HENRY Z. COBB. 

